Renault Reports Profit In First Half After Horrendous 2009

Renault impressed with first half net income of €780 million in the first half, compared with a €2.73 billion loss in the same period of 2009, but again prospects for the rest of the year don’t inspire confidence.

Commerzbank analyst Daniel Schwarz believes that more sales of Renault’s Megane variants and the Espace will push mix to a more profitable level, while light commercial vehicles will contribute enough to offset weakness in the European market.

Citigroup Global Markets analyst Philip Watkins believes prospects for the second remain uncertain, with the added burden of higher raw material costs, and potentially weaker pricing.

But things will look much better than the previous year, whenRenault lost €3 billion.